How to Wear a Little Black Dress

If we were to point out some basic and most essential pieces that every woman should have in her wardrobe, the little black dress would definitely be in the top positions of our lists! Having a little black dress for any occasion is a definite must for every lady, and though there are many of them who keep saying that black dresses are boring and that they can’t even create any noteworthy combinations with this shade, we do state that this is one of the chicest and the most wonderful fashion innovations, which has managed to become an iconic design detail for the charming and “mignon” looks. So now we would like to introduce some of the most essential and important style tips and tricks on how to wear a little black dress.

The History of the Little Black Dress

When Coco Chanel presented the little black dress to the public in the ‘20s of the past century, she couldn’t even imagine that this piece would shortly become the inextricable part of the ladies’ wardrobes. Coco was convinced that the knees were the most attractive part of a woman’s body, but however contrastive it may sound, the dress she designed was slightly below the knee. The first exemplar of this dress was created with the minimal expenses and minimal efforts of the designer. Thus she supported the idea of having laconic and purely glamorous looks created with LBD, which should have as few additional details like collars, sleeves, pockets, belts, etc. Apart from the aesthetic effect it had, LBD was also convenient for ladies, who couldn’t afford sumptuous and very expensive dresses. Thus combining LBD with the correctly picked accessories any fabulous looks could be created.

Little Black Dress Today

LBD is, indeed, an ethereal and extremely feminine piece nowadays, which can create flawless looks for any occasion, be that a romantic dinner or a business meeting. Combining the basic forms of LBD with the constantly changing fashion trends, we get a big range of diversifications including various styles, various lengths, and various silhouettes of LBD. This variety of details also refers to the necklines and the overall design solutions of this piece, thus putting forward the geometric cuts of the necklines like square and triangle, accompanied with the traditional scoop and boatneck options. The appearance of collars, belts, and other details for LBD represents another type of innovation it’s usually subjected to. The choice of the designs, the patterns, overall shapes and decorating details depends totally on the designers. Many popular fashion houses keep on coming up with new and fresh interpretations and options for LBD every year. Thus, this range includes forms from straight dresses to tunics. One more advantage of LBD is that it doesn’t have any age limitations and the most important thing is to be able to match it correctly with the right accompanying details.

What to Wear Little Black Dress With

The next question that you need to consider when picking LBD is the range of play pairs that you are planning to pick for creating the picture perfect looks of yours. You can take the iconic image of Audrey Hepburn in the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. This is one of the most flawless and ideal representations of LBD that we can ever think of. According to this image you just need to pair your minimalistic black dress with some pearls, pearl earrings without any hanging or extravagant details, and black delicate shoes and tights (optionally) finishing all with a small clutch. In addition, you can also experiment with such combinations doing the following!

• If you opt for an evening look, add a shiny headwear accessory to it. It can be a brooch, for instance, and you will get a luxurious and fabulous look.

• Adding black sunglasses and a black hat to LBD you will get an ideal look for walks around the city or shopping.

• If you put on a jacket of a contrastive saturated shade over LBD, you will have a perfect office look, which will combine strict and delicate vibes in one.

• Talking about office looks, we can also recommend matching LBD with a small suit jacket and even a bolero jacket, which can also have the black shade for the background. For a contrast you can pick a bright and contrastive kerchief or a scarf.

• If LBD is used as a part of your dress code, you need to pick high heels for it. The heels do not necessarily have to be very high, since you might probably have to wear them the whole day. But if you are getting ready for an evening, you can pick stilettos, boat shoes or other forms of that style. Finish up the look with a glam clutch or a small handbag with glittery design accents.

• If you plan to put on LBD for a walk around the city, then opting for comfy shoes is the first thing you need to consider. Thus, going for moccasins and a leather jacket will be ideal.

• Black tights are the next suitable detail that you can pick for your dress. Still, we have been observing the emergence of the tendency of matching the other colors of tights with LBD too. The most important detail about them is that they shouldn’t be transparent.

• As for hats, wide-brim alternatives are the most suitable options in this respect. This will create the feel of mystery, elegance, and chic. You can also have a ribbon around the hat or an additional accessory on it. The color of the ribbon or the accessory should be matching the shade of your handbag, being of a close shade with it. Black or ombre sunglasses will be ideal for matching this enigmatic look.

• Pay a special attention for picking the exact form of handbag for LBD. The classic variant for you is the black clutch, but it can also have a contrasting shade matched with other accessories like scarfs, jackets, etc. Picking a shiny silver or golden clutch, you can match it with a chic necklace or a suitable belt. The designers suggest having a reptile skin clutch for the ultra-modern combinations.

• Besides the classic pearls you can also opt for such alternatives as the range of natural jewels like turquoise, agate, and moonstone. In addition, going for Murano glass of all the shades is also a great idea. As for the sizes of the accessories, they should be big enough for being noticeable, but not too big risking to become provocative or even vulgar.

• Another great accessory that you can try out is a brooch, since this is an ideal hint about the occasion and the style of LBD.

Matching LBD with the Occasion

Talking about the occasions that you can wear LBD, the following options can be included in our list:

Little Black Dress for Walks

The looks of yours that are meant to be designed with LBD and used for a walk around the city or to a specific place need to be comfortable and creative at the same time. Thus, you can spice up your look with a black-and-white scarf, kerchief or a shawl. The unique and creative way of wrapping and styling such details is of utmost importance as well. Even the most formal and strictest pieces will acquire a weightless and causal touch and will become an ideal solution for the city style. You can finish up with look with black tights and/or brightly colored shoes. They can either match the design of the scarf or just complement the look. For colder days you can also match your dress with a blazer or a warm jacket. It will be much better if you match it with an outerwear garment with a shade other than black, with the help of which you can make the image livelier and cuter. You can also pick a leather waistcoat or a jacket.

Little Black Dress for Office Looks

Taking LBD with minimalistic vibes without any extra details, ruffles, or voluminous design details makes the perfect office looks. You can also spice up these looks taking a blazer of a black or other shade, for which it is recommended to pick some neutral options. If the combo still seems to be monotone, you can also add a pair of bright shoes to it, for instance, taking bordeaux alternatives. You may also wear LBD with elongated cardigans, which are traditionally not buttoned up or fastened firmly, but are only slightly belted. Thus you will have humble and solemn looks absolutely suitable for work and other causal occasions. These variants are especially suitable if you are planning some evening dinners or a date right after work. It will be enough just to take off the jacket and to add some bright accessories and the LBD will turn into a piece for breathtakingly glam evening look.

Little Black Dress for Evening Looks

The following classic solution that you can opt for is using LBD for your evening outdoor dinner or date. Matching it with stilettos or just high heels, also adding black shoes and handbags you can have the maximum feminine and mysterious looks possible. This is one of the most frequent picks of the celebs for their red carpet looks. In order to avoid the risk of looking monotonous and boring, you can experiment with the details, adding some color plays to your combinations. Long gloves are the following timeless play pair of LBD. The vintage feel is the very first thing that you’ll have this way. Golden shades are the most suitable and awesome play pairs of LBD. You just need to add some golden details to your dress to make the look festive and special. You can also use golden shoes, clutches or jewelry for the glamorous looks. Opting for luxurious shawls is the next thing you can do to make your looks more effective and catchy. You can also match it with your shoes or pick some neutral tones for the latter.

Little Black Dress for All-Time Different Looks

In order to reshape or redesign your LBD and the looks created with it, you can use accessories like belts. You can try out several types and widths of belts to find the most suitable option. Whatever you choose should be right on the waist or for some models above the hips, or else it should be put even higher. The patterns of the belts can be black or colorful. They can be matched with the shoes and the accessories. You can also pick some extravagant design patterns for the accessories you match LBD with, for instance, picking animal printed handbags for it. For the absolutely bedazzling looks you can also pick bright colors for accessories like pink, red, green, purple or yellow. Moreover, shoes may not be matched with absolutely anything, being a solo attribute for accentuating the look. As for the choice of the tights, the classiest variant is picking thick options, remembering about the possibility of having colored variants, too. In addition, you can also go for tracery and patterned forms, which will enable you to play with contrasts and grab everyone’s attention.

Accessories to Wear With Little Black Dress

In addition, if we consider the perfection that can be created with LBD, we simply can’t omit the in-detail discussion of the basic accessories that can be matched with LBD! Thus, in this respect we can speak about the following options:

1. Pearls

Matching LBD with pearls is the perfect and cool thing you can do for the classiest looks, as we noted in the beginning. In addition, you can complete these looks with black gloves, black shoes and some shiny and glittery details like brooches, if the occasion is festive enough for that. As for the hairstyle, the classic updo can be the best alternative.

2. Brooch

You don’t need many details and accessories for LBD. Still, you can take some minimal proportions of additional glitter as floral brooches or other daring forms, being bright and catchy enough to reflect your personality. Don’t forget that this is one of the signature solutions of Carrie Bradshaw! Another cool way of implementing such decorations for LBD is putting some beadwork over belts, more preferably having them with golden or silver accents.

3. Wide-Brim Hats

The image of the ideal lady simply can’t do without a wide-brim hat! The mysterious, enviable, and sassy image created this way is one of the most preferable options and one of the trendiest ones. The shade of the hat should match the dress, while certain details like ribbons or brooches can repeat the shade of the other accessories like belts or handbags. And as we noted earlier, this look can be finished up with matching sunglasses for the total chic.

4. Clutch

Finally coming to the choice of handbags, about which we noted a few detail earlier, we can suggest going for the classic options, if you don’t exactly know what to pick with LBD. Thus, the classic forms suggest picking a golden option matched with classic heels. As for more practical looks, you can also pick a black handbag.

So, these were the basic tips and principles that you need to take into account when picking a little black dress for any occasion and look. The most important thing that you need to know is the form of your figure, the basic principles and vibes of your personal style and the possible accessories and pieces that you can choose for matching it. Knowing this, you will be able to create the most picture-perfect and ideal looks ever!